The Fight For Survival
by Laboon's Wrath
Summary: Quinto Solus and Jem Crystooine are the only surviving Jedi stationed on Cato Nui after Order 66 is carried out. Along with their astromech droid, R3-F6, they determine to search the Galaxy for surviving Jedi and reestablish some semblance of an Order.
1. Chapter 1: Order 66

Fight For Survival

A Star Wars Fanfic

By Jabberwocky

Chapter One: Order 66

19 BBY

Cato Nui

The final day of the Clone Wars

Quinto Solus surveyed the charred landscape of the once-great Nuitau Plains. It was hard to believe that just three years previously, these sprawling grasslands had been home to a great many of the majestic Nui Dragons, gentle giants fabled for their amicable attitude towards almost all beings. Now, however, there were no Dragons to be found: they had fled their caves when the war came to Cato Nui. The grasslands were ablaze with the flickering lights of both Confederate and Republic vehicles. The lights seemed to spit in the face of the departing sun - as if reminding the star that it held no sway over when the fighting would stop.

"Sir?" one of his clone commanders spoke up. Clones had no distinctions in their voices, of course, but many picked up various vocal tics and quirks, and it was from these that Quinto could differentiate between his commanders. This one spoke with a lisp, due to having several teeth knocked out in a fistfight with a disarmed battle droid. His designation was Gery.

"Yes, Gery?" Quinto answered his commander.

"What are your orders?"

Quinto considered. "Assemble our forces in an arrowhead formation," he finally said, "And then we'll charge the Confederate forces, overwhelming them."

"Are you... sure that's a wise course of action, sir?" Gery asked meekly. Clones were always hesitant to second-guess their superiors, believing in a strict chain of command, but Quinto did not mind. To him, a willingness to point out flaws in a plan was a sign of a clever and competent officer.

All the same, Quinto said to Gery: "I do. And I'm afraid there's no time for debating the pros and cons of my plan of action, unless you wish for Cato Nui to be lost." He glanced at the battle. "Look down there, Gery. Our offensive forces are taking a pounding, and all our defenses have crumbled down to near-nothingness. Unless we charge now and take the enemy by surprise, the Republic stands no chance of taking this world back."

Gery nodded slowly. "I... understand, sir," he said finally. He relayed Quinto's orders to the troops. When they had fallen into formation, Gery called to Quinto: "whenever you're ready, General Solus."

Quinto took a deep breath. He unclasped his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it. The yellow blade sprung to life, emitting a metallic hum. He turned to his troops and raised his saber high. "Attack!" he shouted. He and his troopers charged and began cutting a swath through the army of battle droids, whom they'd managed to catch unawares.

Quinto hacked and slashed his way towards the other three Jedi assigned to Cato Nui: the Jedi Master Kinto Lavast - a Human like Quinto - who was joined by his Twi'lek Padawan, Jem Crystooine. The other Jedi was a Nui, native to the planet. His name was Potuusa De'mosta, a Jedi Knight.

"So good of you to make it," Kinto joked, hauling Quinto onto their command barge.

Quinto cut right to the chase. "How bad is it?" he demanded.

"two hundred clones dead," said Potuusa De'mosta in a gravely voice.

"Where have you been?" Jem asked Quinto angrily. She was 16, just four years Quinto's younger, but she showed the tenacity and spirit of a seasoned Jedi Master.

"My battalion has been busy taking the capital," Quinto explained.

"And?" Kinto indicated.

"You'll be glad to hear that Nuiveratyyso has been liberated," Quinto said.

"Excellent," said Kinto. "That means the Confederates are beginning to weaken. It figures, given the death of Grievous. I'd say that after this battle, the liberation of Cato Nui is as good as..."

Kinto was cut off by the sound of blaster fire and the smell of disintegrated skin. Kinto's eyes widened in shock and he fell to the floor of the barge. His lightsaber clattered out of his hand. Smoke plumed from his robes, wafting from a burn mark in its back.

"Master!" Jem screamed.

"Get down!" Potuusa ordered. Quinto and Jem did so, and as Quinto fell to the floor, he saw out of the corner of his eye his own clone troopers firing upon the barge.

"What's going on?" Jem exclaimed.

"The clones have gone mad!" Potuusa snarled. "Hold on, I'll steer the barge into one of the Dragon Caves!"

The barge flew rough and jolty, but at that moment comfort was at the back of Quinto's mind.

He glanced up and saw Jem grab Kinto's lightsaber just as it was sliding off the barge, then scream in agony and horror when she was unable to do the same for Kinto's body.

"This is gonna be rough," Potuusa warned Quinto and Jem, his piglike face curling into a grimace. "Jump off the barge on a count of three! Three! Two! One!"

The Jedi leapt off the barge and into the cave just as the barge crashed into the outer top of the cave. The resulting explosion sent rocks falling in front of the cave's entrance, sealing it off.

"We should be safe here for a while," Quinto said, gasping for breath. "We should rest for a while. Meditate to clear our minds of any anger or confusion," he added, glancing at Jem, who was staring at Kinto's saber with a look of utter contempt and malice on her face.

Portuusa shook his head. "That'd be nice," he said, but there isn't any time. I know the tunnels and passageways of the Dragon Caves - all Nui do, instinctually. I know a path that leads to the Nui Shipyards. I've got a friend there who can get us a starship at no charge."

"Are you all right with not stopping to rest, Jem?" Quinto asked, brushing his brown hair from his eyes.

Jem glared at Quinto, and the Knight could have sworn he saw a flash of red on her blue skin. "Of course! she said. "Why would I not be? Don't be ridiculous!" She stood up. "Portuusa's right. We should start moving."

"Then it's settled," said Portuusa gruffly. "Let's get a move on."

QQQQQ

"My friend's giving us a YT-2000 freighter," said Portuusa. "They've had a few left over since that model went out of style, so they're glad for anyone to taker one of them."

"They" being the Nui Shipyard Company, which manufactured starships for nearly every corporation in the market. It was a lucrative business model, not restricting the company to one corporation, and one few starship manufacturers had picked up on.

"The freighter's this way," said Portuusa. The three fugitive Jedi entered a docking platform where a brand-new YT-2000 was sitting, ready for takeoff.

"Anyone know how to fly this thing?" Portuusa asked. "I've never been at the controls of a YT before, so I'm in the dark."

"My old Master flew a 2000," said Quinto. "So I have experience."

"Looks like you're our pilot, then," said Portuusa with a chuckle.

"I'll be co-pilot," offered Jem. "M-Master K-Kinto owned a YT-1400. I've flown it once or twice."

"Well, I'm glad most of us have some sort of experience with these things," said Portuusa. "Looks like the astromech droid that the Shipyards included won't be of as much need as I thought."

"They included an astromech?" Quinto repeated, slightly impressed.

"Designation R3-F6, they told me," Portuusa confirmed.

"Does the ship have a name yet?" Jem inquired.

"That she does," said Portuusa. "The workers call her the _Nui Dragon_."

"Freeze, traitorous Jedi!" a familiar lisped voice yelled. The Jedi whirled around to see a team of clones headed by Commander Gery, weapons live and aimed towards the clones' former leaders.

Portuusa growled and drew his saber, igniting its blue blade in the blink of an eye. "Get to the _Dragon_ and escape!" he commanded Jem and Quinto. "I'll hold 'em off!"

"I refuse to lose another comrade!" yelled Quinto, drawing his own saber.

"That's an order, young Knight!" Portuusa countered. "I'm a Master; I can handle these toy soldiers!"

Quinto wasn't so sure.

"Surrender now!" Gery ordered. "If you do, Emperor Palpatine might be willing to spare your lives!"

"_Emperor _Palpatine?" Jem repeated in shock.

"Go!" shouted Portuusa. "Get off Cato Nui! Try to find whatever's left of the Order! Now!"

Reluctantly, Quinto and Jem obeyed. As the _Nui Dragon_ lifted off the docking platform, Quinto and Jem could only watch as Portuusa gave his best effort to defeat the attacking clones. But it was in vain. He was soon gunned down. Killed. The last thing the two fugitives saw before escaping Cato Nui's atmosphere was Gery waving about Portuusa's lightsaber as if it were some sort of trophy.

QQQQQ

_Two Months Later_

"Find any Jedi beacons, Arthree?"

The droid chirped a negative.

Quinto sighed. "Two months," he said, "and we still haven't found any surviving Jedi."

"Maybe... maybe we're the only ones left," Jem suggested, then shuddered at the thought.

"Don't say that!" Quinto exclaimed. "They couldn't have gotten Master Yoda. Nor Master Kenobi. Those two, at least, are alive. I can sense it."

"And what about the... 'Chosen One?'"

"Skywalker? He's alive, I'd reckon. He's one of the Order's best. No clone would be able to catch him."

R3-F6 beeped in alarm.

"We've got a transmission!" Quinto cried jovially. "It's from the Elk system. Two Jedi, a Knight and her Padawan."

"What planet?" Jem asked, preparing to set coordinates for a hyperspace jump.

"Safeven," said Quinto. "Somewhere in the city of Bathmos."

"Punching it," said Jem.

The _Nui Dragon jumped to lightspeed._

_/_

_Next Time: Can Quinto and Jem rescue two Jedi in hiding from a notorious bounty hunter out for the price on their heads? Find out in chapter two: "The False Mandalorian."_


	2. Chapter 2: The False Mandalorian

Chapter Two: The False Mandalorian

19 ABY

The planet Safeven

The _Nui Dragon _dropped into the spaceport of Bathos city after receiving clearance from one of the guards. Force persuasion had been difficult over long distances, but Jem had pooled her strength with his to convince the guard that they had all the proper credentials.

Now they needed to home in on the Jedi distress beacon they had discovered. The Jedi had identified themselves as the Human Knight Sagn Pintos and his Chadra-Fan Padawan, Felo Uibheist. Arthree was using its radio sensors to track the signal, and so far had managed to narrow down the search to a run-down and disheveled district.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Jem said nervously as she and Quinto strode down the streets that, presumably, had once been in good condition.

"Calm yourself," Quinto urged her. "Arthree will soon have found our quarry."

As if on cue, Arthree stopped at a building severely in disrepair and began chirping loudly.

"Speak of the Emperor," Quinto grinned. He slowly opened the building's doors (the automatic controls having long since degraded) and entered. He motioned for Jem and Arthree to join him.

In the past two months, Quinto and Jem had learned uch of what had become of the Galaxy. They'd learned about the fall of the Republic, rise of the Emperor, and extermination of the Jedi Order. It had taken several hours of meditation simply to repress the feelings of trauma and stress they'd felt at that moment. That was when Quinto had connected Arthree to the _Dragon_'s comm unit to scan for Jedi transmissions. He and Jem were determined to rebuild the Order as much as they could in this new Galaxy.

Back in the present, Quinto and Jem were reaching out to sense the Jedi they'd come to collect.

"Whoever it is is damn good at hiding themselves," Jem mused. "I can't sense anything. You think Arthree might have raised a false alarm?"

"No," Quinto said. "I can feel something. It's faint, but it's definitely there. It's coming from..." He suddenly drew and activated his lightsaber as quickly as he could. "...The ceiling!" he finished. Suddenly, a short furry humanoid wielding a blue-bladed shoto - short lightsaber - dropped down from the rafters with a scream and clashed its blade against Quino's.

"Hey!" Jem shouted in alarm, holding hers and her former Master's lightsabers akimbo, ready to defend Quinto. Arthree squealed in fright.

"More bounty hunters!" the Chadra-Fan growled in badly-disguised feminine voice. ""With more plundered lightsabers! How dare you dishonor my noble Jedi comrades?"

"You don't understand!" Quinto protested. "We _are_ Jedi!"

"That's what the one in the armor told us, too!" the Chadra-Fan said. "Then he tried to kill Master Pintos and I!"

"You're Felo Uibheist," Jem realized. "The Padawan."

Felo glared at Jem. "So what if I'm still just a Padawan?" she asked. "I've been taught the basics of Vaapad! Not too many Padawans can brag that!"

"Felo, we found your beacon while we were searching for transmissions from surviving Jedi," Quinto explained, parrying Felo's strikes all the while. "We're looking to rebuild the Order and possibly aid in the Empire's fall."

"I dislike it when people lie!" Felo squeaked.

"Then it is a good thing that these people are not," said a voice. A tall Human wearing ratty Jedi robes and a shabby tourniquet on his left leg floated into the room on an outdated hover-chair. His white hair was long and greasy, as him he hadn't cared for it in a while. A respectable growth of hair had sprouted in the area surrounding his mouth.

"Sagn Pintos, I presume?" said Jem.

Sagn nodded. He turned to his Padawan. "Switch off your saber, Felo. Even in these dark times, we cannot allow our anger and frustration to control us. That is how the dark side marks its victories."

"Yes, Master," said Felo, reluctantly switching her lightsaber off.

Sagn looked at Quinto and smiled. "I hear you've responded to the distress beacon Felo and I set up. I'm glad to hear it. We have no way of getting offworld ourselves, so sending out a message was our last recourse. There's a makeshift landing pad behind this building. You should bring your ship here."

"What happened to your leg?" Jem sudenly asked. "Did the clones get to it?"

Sagn shook his head. "There weren't enough clones on Safeven to take out me and Felo. We were stationed here as the first line of defense in case the Seps took Elk and set their sights on this place. Felo and I dispatched the troopers quickly, and went into hiding. A few days ago, someone clad in some kind of armor found us. He claimed to be a Jedi, and he did have a lightsaber. But it turned out that he was a bounty hunter seeking to claim the reward money offered for any surviving Jedi. I was injured fighting him."

"Where is he now?" Quinto asked.

"I don't know," Sagn admitted. "He's definitely still on Safeven, though. Probably even still looking for us.

"We'd better get off this planet as soon as possible, then," said Quinto. "Jem, take Arthree and Felo to get the _Dragon. I'll stay here with Sagn."_

_Jem hesitated, then conceded. "Yes, Master," she said, ushering Felo and Arthree out the door of the building._

_"And don't call me 'Master!'" Quinto called after her._

_QQQQQQQQ_

_Thirty minutes had passed. _

_"Jem should be here with our ship soon," said Quinto. "We should..."_

_At that moment, blaster fire bombarded the building's door, which put up a feeble battle before falling down with a groan and a crash._

_A man dressed in Mandalorian armor stood in the doorway with a blaster in one hand and a lightsaber in the other. _

_"I've found you at last, Jedi," he sneered with a voice that Quinto found oddly familiar. "Where's the furball? And who's your new... friend?" The man stalled in his last sentence with what Quinto could have sworn was surprise._

_"You again!" Sagn gasped._

_"Me again," the man agreed. He holstered the blaster and activated the lightsaber, igniting a glowing blue blade. "I am the False Mandalorian, and I've come to finish what I started." He lunged for Sagn, but Quinto was swift to activate his own lightsaber and block the man's strike._

_"Another Jedi," the man breathed. "Have at thee, then!"_

_The man's form with the lightsaber was crude, Quinto noted. He had no inkling of the finesse and focus it took to correctly wield the device, and swung it about with no grace or subtlety. It was almost embarrassing to duel such an amateur. Quinto could block the False Mandalorian's every move, countering and parrying with ease. The bounty hunter was growing angrier and more frustrated with every moment, and that, Quinto knew, would be his undoing._

_Their sabers clashed, and their faces came within inches of each other. "You should have retired the saber," the man hissed. "You wouldn't want to suffer the same fate as poor Potuusa, would you?"_

_Quinto blinked. "What?" he said._

_"Don't you recognize this lightsaber?" the False Mandalorian chuckled. "I took it from Portuusa's lifeless body!"_

_Quinto's eyes widened in shock. Now he realized why the man's voice had been so familiar. The Mandalorian helmet's comm system did a good job of covering it up, but there was no way to fully disguise the lisp of the man Quinto was dueling._

_"Gery!" he exclaimed._

_Quinto was sure that Gery was smirking underneath his helmet. "Hello, General," he laughed._

_/_

_Next Time: Gery and Quinto continue their duel, and Gery explains how he became the False Mandalorian! Can Quinto convince Gery to reform and join the Jedi crew's cause? Plus, Arthree finds a new signal! See what happens in chapter three: "Gery's Choice." _


	3. Chapter 3: Gery's Choice

Chapter Three: Gery's Choice

19 BBY

The planet Safeven

"Gery!" Quinto sputtered. "But... how? Why?"

"I was never as much of a yes-man as the other clones," said Gery, slashing with his lightsaber. "You know that. As soon as the new Empire was announced, I saw trouble on the horizon and beat it out of the army as quick as I could."

"And became a bounty hunter," said Quinto, still blocking Gery's blows.

"Precisely. This is the old armor of my template, Jango Fett. I went to Genosias to see the place where all this mess started. Fett's armor was still lying in the arena, so I appropriated it. After that, I began searching the galaxy for Jedi to kill and collect the sizable price the Emperor has on their heads. And now I've got... four (I assume that Twi'lek is still with you) in the same place! This is phenomenal, it really is. I thank you for being so generous."

"I have a better idea," suggested Quinto. "I can sense your emotions, Gery. Your heart is not fully given to your alleged mission. You are appalled at the Republic you help defend fall and be replaced by the Empire."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't even try it," Quinto laughed. "I worked with you for a long time. I know when you're lying."

Gery paused. "I'm... listening," he finally said.

"Join us," offered Quinto. "We can forgive you for all that you've done if you help us gather the surviving Jedi and rebuild the Order. Perhaps with enough Jedi, we'll have enough strength to restore the Republic to its former glory."

"I... I don't know," said Gery hesitantly.

"It is your choice," said Quinto, retracting his lightsaber. "I will not force you into anything. Choose wisely."

There was a long pause as Quinto and Gery stared at each other. The tension in the air was palpable.

Then, at long last, Gery, too retracted his blade.

"I acquiesce," he said. "I will come with you."

Quinto smiled. "Good to be partners with you again, Gery Pi-78663."

"Mandalore," Gery corrected. "Call me Gery Mandalore."

The sound of engines roared outside the building. 

"Ah," said Quinto. "It appears our ship has arrived."

Felo and Jem entered the building through the back.

"You!" Felo shrieked at Gery, igniting her lightsaber. Jem followed her lead, activating her blue-bladed lightsaber and her former Master's maroon-bladed one.

"Hold, Felo," said Sagn, holding his hand up. 

"But it's the False Mandalorian!" Felo argued. "He tried to kill us!"

"And for that he will have to atone," Sagn agreed. "For now, he has joined our cause. His name is Gery Mandalore."

"That name sounds familiar," Jem mused. 

"Don't worry yourself about it," said Quinto, knowing that Jem would never trust the killer of her Master. "Come, let's leave this planet."

"I'll join you in orbit," said Gery. "I'm flying an old experimental Delta-7 equipped with a hyperdrive."

"Wasn't my Delta-7 one of those models?" Quinto asked.

"So it was," said Gery nervously. "What a coincidence! Well, I'd better go get it!" He sprinted from the building.

"I don't trust him," said Jem plainly.

"We don't have to trust him," said Quinto, "only work with him." He climbed into the _Nui Dragon_. Arthree was at the comm unit, chittering wildly.

Quinto whooped. "Another signal!" he called to his comrades. "Arthree's picked up a new Jedi signal!"

"From where?" Jem asked, rushing into the ship.

"The main planet of Elk," said Quinto. "It's from the Elkonian Master Massif Guerrier."

"I thought the Elkonians went extinct," said Jem.

"Nearly," Qinto corrected. "There are only 26 left. Master Guerrier is one of them."

"Then let's get a move on," said Sagn, entering the ship with Felo.

"Preparing for takeoff," Quinto reported. "Strap in, everybody!"

QQQQQQ

The _Nui Dragon_ was flanked by Gery's gold-and-green-painted Delta-7 starfighter as the planet Elk came into view.

The surface of the world was metallic and silvery, not unlike Coruscant. A small blue patch - the planet's only sea - stood out amongst the gleaming modernized surface.

Elk had once been a beautiful forest planet, but the native Elkonians had over industrialized it, building factory upon factory, each one spewing foul gases into the atmosphere.

The gases mutated a formerly harmless bacterium, turning it into a virulent plague that obliterated the Elkonians, killing every last one on-planet.

Now, the plague had died off and it was safe to walk on the planet's surface. Quinto was glad for this as he docked his YT-2000 at a shipyard.

A large group of Elkonians approached him and his crew as they disembarked. Quinto counted 26 of them.

_The gang's all here_, he noted. The entire species, gathered in one place. And one of them was a Jedi Master.

"You're very bad at hiding, Master Massif," said Quinto. "26 of 26 Elkonians in the Galaxy present? That won't raise a red flag for the Imperials."

An Elkonian in the back of the group grunted. "Impertinent as always, Mr. Solus," he said.

Quinto grinned. "It's been too long, old friend."

The Elkonian approached Quinto. "So good to see you and all of these others survived the Emperor's purge."

"We're looking for more survivors," explained Quinto, "to rebuild the Order."

"And overthrow the Empire," Gery added.

Massif frowned. "Who is this, then?" he asked, looking at Gery."

"Former clone trooper. He's on our side," said Sagn.

"What he says is the truth," Quinto assured Massif.

Massif stroked his chin. "I certainly do sympathize with an alliance to restore the Republic. I shall join with you - but only if my brethren will agree to be a part of this new militia."

The Elkonians began to bow. "We pledged our service to you when we saved you from the traitorous clones," one of them said. "We shall lay our life on the line to aid you and your allies."

Massif harumphed. "Then consider your alliance 26 people stronger!" he said to Quinto. 

Felo suddenly ran out of the _Nui Dragon_. "Your droid found another signal," she panted to Quinto. "It's coming from Manaan."

"More and more Jedi are reaching out," Jem noted. 

"The light side of the Force was smothered by the rise of the Empire," said Massif. "Now, it is reemerging. Jedi who survived the purge must be subconsciously aware of this, and are beginning to start efforts to regroup."

"We should get to Manaan ASAP," said Sagn. 

"We Elkonians have our own ship to use," said Massif, gesturing to a large cruiser. "We will link hyperspace coordinates and jump to Manaan together."

"Agreed," said Quinto.

"After Manaan," said Jem as she, Quinto, Felo, and Sagn reentered the _Dragon_, "we should decide on a formal base of operations."

"I agree," said Quinto. "For now, let's just focus on picking up this new Jedi."

QQQQQQ

The three ships were blasting through hyperspace on the way to Manaan. Suddenly, there was a deafening roar, and the starlines of lightspeed travel began to fade.

"What's happening?" Felo asked in alarm.

"Some kind of disturbance in the Force!" Massif snarled over the comm. "It's forcibly taking us out of lightspeed!"

"How could anyone do that?" Gery asked in alarm.

"There's only two Jedi I know that would be powerful enough," said Massif. "Master Yoda, and Master Toshtaba."

Just then, the ships emerged from lightspeed to a startling image.

Looming over them was a huge, wedge-shaped starcraft. Its hull was white with a red stripe running down its middle. The Jedi all recognized it from various Clone Wars battles.

It was a _Venator-class Star Destroyer. And it had them locked in its tractor beam._

_/_

_Next time: Two new Jedi: legendary Ithorian Master L'asstenn Toshtaba and Selkath Knight Pexe Drakfisk! Why do L'asstenn's clone troopers loyal to the Jedi? Where will the Jedi Militia's base be? Find out all this and more in chapter four: "Master Toshtaba's Wisdom!"_


End file.
